Plateau band gets the stay-in-school message to students loud and clear

Published 1:47 pm Monday, March 22, 2010

When Janet Holm found Sean Coats, Matt Salisbury and Nolan Bailey rocking the education building at the Western Washington State Fair in Puyallup, she was sure the Enumclaw-based rock band that goes by SubRocket was what she was seeking to fill the void left by her son who performed as Tha’ Duke when he graduated.

After the trio brought down the house at the The Washington Council’s Eighth Grade College Exploration Day at the University of Washington-Tacoma in February, she was convinced she had found the role models she needed to get across her stay-in-school message.

“They had the message I wanted,” said Holm, who also is the outreach coordinator for Clover Park Technical College in Lakewood. “It’s important to be involved in school.”

The council brings the tour to eighth-grade students across the state.

“Once kids are involved in high school, the chances of them going on to college are greater,” Holm said. Catching them as eighth-grade students, while their still listening and letting them know there are options, is key.

“There are so many choices for kids and dropping out is not one of them,” Holm said. “If kids are involved in high school, we know they’ll be successful.”

What Holm liked was SubRocket had lyrics everyone could understand and relate to.

Coats and Bailey, ninth-grade students at Enumclaw High, and Salisbury, an eighth-grade student at Glacier Middle School in Buckley who plays bass, guitar and performs vocals, write their own music. They have been playing together as a band for almost two years and are hitting stages in the Seattle and South Puget Sound area. This summer they have an eastern Washington tour planned.

All the songs on their upcoming CD feature topics that deal with teenage issues like school, bullying, parents, football and peer pressure.

“We don’t have big problems,” said Bailey, who plays drums and also sings, “but we realize that they’re out there.”

SubRocket is scheduled to perform again Friday for more than 600 eighth-grade students on Auburn’s Green River Community College campus. The group will play “My Independence,” a song they wrote about growing up and transitioning into responsibility, and The Who’s “My Generation,” the one song they cover.

After SubRocket’s Tacoma appearance, the group’s role became clear.

“I think it motivated us more than the kids,” said Coats, a freshman who plays guitar and performs vocals. “The kids were pretty stoked about it. So were we.”

“They changed some kids’ opinion about what high school is about and that it’s important and that’s huge,” Holm said.

“Music reaches all ages,” she said. “It doesn’t matter where they are in their education, music reaches them.

“Kids talking to kids. That’s what makes the difference and SubRocket, they’re perfect,” she said.